While I consider myself liberal-minded in most areas, and would
usually think twice about speaking up in defense of somebody as
conservative as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., I feel the editorial board
mischaracterized the incident involving his refusal of a secondary
search by the Transportation Security Administration.

LONG BRANCH, N.J. — Ryan Brodie first started hanging around the
Rutgers campus after his freshman year at Long Branch High School.
Then the Rutgers football coaching staff started making the
offensive tackle a priority when he was a sophomore.

Since the closing of The Court Tavern in the last week, a lot of
us who frequently pulled open the broken front door, laughed and
sang in the dimly-lit, foul-smelling basement, and got ushered out
the door at 2 a.m. by one disgruntled employee or another have
lamented and reminisced in our own ways. Whether we went to see a
show, perform in front of our friends and colleagues or were just
looking for a beer and some other people, a lot of great nights
(and not-so-great nights) were had there, and it’s sad to see such
an institution close its doors inde?nitely.

If the absence of a token understanding of macroeconomic theory
wasn’t enough for a reader to set down their copy of The Daily
Targum upon reading the column titled “Ron Paul’s ideas show no
logic” yesterday, the author’s lack of grammatical acuity and
writing skill was. A cogent and well thought-out argument against
the gold standard, support of which is misattributed to Rep. Ron
Paul, R-Texas, can easily be made, but the author fails to make it.
Paul happens to believe that a gold-backed currency is far more
stable than a debt-backed, fiat currency monopolized by the Federal
Reserve — not that it is the best option.

The author of the Jan. 19 column, “Plurality begets progress,”
clearly believes in the tenets of a fair democratic process and the
role journalism plays in it. As a student who is represented by the
Rutgers University Student Assembly and has never been an elected
part of the Rutgers Student Union, I appreciate such dedication.
However, I also appreciate journalistic integrity and a fair
approach to the issue that concerns all actors involved, which the
author has so far proven himself unable to accomplish.

Walking through the halls of the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson
Medical School with my collegiate cap askew, I always thought of
medicine metaphorically — as a sacred field ruled by Asclepius, the
Greek god of medicine, holding his symbolic rod with its coiled
serpent.

The letter printed Dec. 13 in The Daily Targum, titled “English
Department fails to address racism” is not accurate and in our
opinion, is irresponsible. As far as we know, none of the authors
of the article reached out to ask any of us how or whether we had
responded to the bias incident that happened in our
department.

This letter, written together by students in the “Race,
Ethnicity and Inequality in Education” class at the Graduate School
of Education, is meant to express our collective outrage over the
act of racism that took place in a University class in the
Department of English. We are angry that the faculty has not taken
the matter more seriously and wish to demonstrate our support for
the students pushing this issue into the light.

An opinions Frontlines published on Dec. 2, titled “RUPA
concerts fail to account for diverse tastes,” commented on the way
the Rutgers University Programming Association picks its musical
acts and events, and how we, as an organization, consider the needs
of the student body when programming. As per our mission statement,
we provide a variety of cultural, educational, recreational and
social programs that appeal to the diverse student body across the
New Brunswick and Piscataway campuses. We would like to take this
time to clarify how we choose our events and our ongoing mission to
provide unique experiences to the University community.

In reference to the story that ran on the front page on Dec. 7,
“Students consider value of journalism education,” some of the
comments that have appeared on The Daily Targum website have
already responded to the issue of whether journalism students learn
anything valuable in internships.

On behalf of United Students Against Sweatshops, the Rutgers
United Student Coalition, Rutgers University Campus Coalition
Against Trafficking, and Sociedad Estudiantil Dominicana, we would
like to express our gratitude to The Daily Targum and Barnes and
Noble for support and cooperation with our efforts to end the
University’s business relationships with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco
Company. The very same day that John Cusick, general manager of the
Barnes and Noble campus bookstores, became aware of the conditions
under which migrant workers live and work because of R.J.
Reynolds’s operations, we received a phone call confirming that all
R.J. Reynolds products were being removed from all of the stores
operated by Barnes and Noble on campus. This includes the Student
Activities Center and the Rutgers Spirit Shop on the College Avenue
campus, the Livingston Convenience Store and the Busch Convenience
Store. We hope that Student Life, which operates sales at the
Douglass Campus Center and the Cook Campus Center, will soon follow
suit.

The Daily Targum printed an editorial yesterday expressing
support for the Department of Health and Human Services’ decision
to continue requiring a prescription for girls ages 16 or younger
to obtain Plan B, the emergency contraception or “morning-after”
pill. The writer lists seven side effects of Plan B and notes,
“most of these side effects are relatively harmless to the average
adult female, but imagine how they could potentially affect the
systems of younger women.” Is the writer seriously suggesting that
a nine-month pregnancy is a safer, preferable alternative to some
lower abdominal pain and breast tenderness, and in a growing
teenager — or god forbid, preteen — no less?

I did not merely disagree with the Dec. 8 letter titled “Take
care in making sweeping condemnations” — I was, in fact, completely
disgusted. Not only am I shocked that such a letter was written and
published in The Daily Targum, but I am also aghast that the author
attempts to argue that homophobia is some sort of intellectualist
choice. It reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how bigotry
operates in the political sphere.

I am writing this letter to address claims made against the
student organization, BAKA: Students United for Middle Eastern
Justice, in The Daily Targum article published on Tuesday,
“Department of Education to investigate University.” The article
discussed the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights’
(OCR) pending investigation of claims made by the Zionist
Organization of America concerning anti-Semitism and harassment on
campus, which they assert are reflected in “several events by the
student group Belief Awareness Knowledge and Action.” No one from
BAKA’s executive board was contacted for a statement.

In response to the Dec. 5 column in The Daily Targum titled
“Irrationality bolsters homophobia,” I’d like to offer some
criticism and explain why some people are against homosexuality in
order for others to better understand the position.

The front windows of Jewish-owned businesses in Highland Park
and New Brunswick were found smashed on Tuesday morning. The
vandalism struck our campus as well. Rutgers Hillel and Rutgers
Chabad, two Jewish chaplaincies on campus, had bricks thrown into
their windows. These acts took place a few days earlier over the
Thanksgiving weekend. As you may have seen in The Daily Targum on
Thursday, a man was arrested and charged for this vandalism.

You may recall that on Oct. 25 a letter appeared in The Daily
Targum titled, “U. should invest in part-time lecturers.” It was
about how part-time lecturers (PTLs) are faring with respect to
contract negotiations with the administration. The feedback we
received indicated much interest, so I am writing this letter to
update you on our status.

In response to the editorial titled “Mandatory drug tests
violate Constitution” in yesterday’s The Daily Targum, the argument
that it is a violation of the Fourth Amendment to require a drug
test in order to receive federal aid or benefits is debatable. It
will not be long until such a case will reach the Supreme Court
about this debacle and whether it truly does violate the Fourth
Amendment, which grants citizens “the right … to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches
and seizures.” Receiving federal welfare is an exclusive privilege
to citizens that apply for such aid, whether it is in the form of
food stamps or unemployment checks. It is, however, not a right to
receive these benefits. Driving a motorized vehicle in the United
States is a privilege that is subject to strict laws and enforced
by civil servants. What makes these two privileges different? Would
anyone want people driving on the road if they were under the
influence of a controlled substance? Would you want to drive on
roads where no one is held accountable for reckless behavior that
could jeopardize the safety of those who obey the law? Certain
lawmakers are pursuing these drug tests because it will guarantee
employed citizens who work hard for their money and that are forced
to “donate” a portion of their paychecks, and that the federal aid
is not fueling irresponsible, erratic behavior, such as using
recreational drug use.

In response to yesterday’s editorial, “Negligent parenting does
not cause obesity” — are you serious? When I first read the
article, I thought today was the Mugrat issue, the joke paper The
Daily Targum runs once a semester. Whose fault is it when an
8-year-old boy weighs at 200 pounds? The blame falls squarely on
the parents. Who does the grocery shopping? Who prepares the meals?
Who is supposed to teach this child proper healthy habits? The
parents are, and they are obviously doing a terrible job. An
8-year-old boy is not autonomous enough to make decisions about
what he should eat and how much. That is a decision left up to the
parents.

My fellow Scarlet Knights, I write to you because there is
always more than one side to each story. I ask that you take
everything into consideration to avoid being misinformed and
thereby formulating inaccurate opinions on certain issues. I am
writing about the column that ran on Nov. 17, entitled “Rutgers
United serves own agenda.”